New Media Festival to be launched in Manchester

Manchester is to host a brand new festival celebrating TV, Film, Music, Gaming and Social Networking. Launching this November, the festival will be an annual affair and bring together a vast range of players in the media industry.

The Media Festival will feature world-class speakers, and a content-packed double-stream conference programme.

Peter Bazalgette, head of Big Brother maker Endemol, the media festival’s chairman, said: "The Media Festival brings together, for the first time; TV, film, music, gaming and social networking – in fact, everyone who is reconfiguring their business model for the digital age.

"It’s now widely accepted we can all learn from each other – the event promises to be hugely instructive."

The Media Festival’s agenda will cover content creation and funding, production and distribution technology as well as celebrating the craft of the industry, highlighting the best work and the creators behind it.

It is being organised by Emap Communications, publisher of Broadcast, Screen International and shots, and producer of Cannes Lions and the World Retail Congress.

The festival advisory board includes some of the biggest names in media, including Danny Cohen, controller of BBC Three; Alex Connock, chief executive of Ten Alps; and Brian Greasley, managing director of Mediacity UK.